Labour slam Vince Cable over tuition fees 'farce' as he performs another U-turn

VINCE CABLE was last night accused of turning the Lib Dems into a laughing stock after yet another set of U-turns over tuition fees.

VINCE CABLE was last night accused of turning the Lib Dems into a laughing stock after yet another set of U-turns over tuition fees.

The Business Secretary appeared to end speculation about his voting plans when he told his local paper he would vote with his party over the controversial rise in charges for students.

But he later performed a U-turn on that U-turn by telling a student radio station that he still hadn't decided what to do.

Cable told his stunned radio interviewer: "I didn't announce anything. There might have been some slight misunderstanding."

Labour took full advantage of Cable's uncertainty by comparing him to a Monty Python sketch, crowing: "John Cleese could not have scripted this farce better than Vince Cable."

Before his party formed a coalition with the Tories, Cable joined fellow Lib Dem MPs, including Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, in signing a pledge not to raise fees at all.

Yesterday, SNP MP Mike Weir said: "Yet again we see how a Lib Dem pledge is meaningless. They are now simply a support group for the Tories. They have become the same as the Tories and help them deliver their damaging policies."

More than 10 Lib Dem MPs have indicated they will vote against higher student fees while others are considering abstaining.

Senior Lib Dem sources insist no decision has been taken on how the party will vote on tuition at Westminster on Thursday.